Shingeki no Kyojin: A Prequelle
by RiverPond20
Summary: Following Hanji, Erwin, Levi and Mike from their training days to the present. What events shaped them into the people they are today? I suck at summaries, it's much better than the summary. Rated T for language and violence
1. Chapter 1

We were both lying in a patch of wild grass, staring up at the sky above.

"Look at that one!" I exclaimed pointing at a floating cloud "It looks like a cow!"

"I doubt you've ever even seen a cow, Hanji" He pouted

"I have!" I argued "You showed me the one your uncle owned. Remember, Erwin?"

"oh, yeah!... Look, over there! Look at that one, it looks like a person"

"Nuh-uh! It looks like a Titan!"

He scoffed "Now I know you've never seen one of them!"

"I did! I did!" I gently hit his arm.

"Where!?" He asked in disbelief

"A book! Father has a big book from his training days that has all types of information on titans. He showed it to me for the first time recently… He thought it'd be good to get a head start"-

"Hanji?" His voice hitched

"Aye?" I asked turning my head towards him. His blue-eyed gaze never left the clouds

"Are we doing the right thing? Joining the fight, I mean"

"Protecting humanity from titans?" I asked

He nodded

"Of course we are! Baka!"-

"But, what if"-

"Erwin, for as long as I've known you, you've wanted to join up. Don't forget your dream; living inside the inner wall. Imagine it! Rubbing shoulders and protecting our best and brightest" My heart was swelling with pride.

"I suppose" He didn't seem convinced.

"We can do it! I'm dyin- I mean, I can't wait to learn more about titans! I hope I see one for real! That would be amazing!" I clapped with excitement and squealed.

He sighed "I don't know how you can be so happy when it comes to titans, Hanji"

"I'll show you my father's book, then you might understand" I smiled.

"No thank you. I want to avoid seeing them whenever I have the chance" He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He stretched and groaned.

I sat up too, lifting my glasses off my face and rubbing my eyes.

"I should be heading home" he yawned, mid-stretch

"Me too" My arms fell to my sides as my glasses came to rest on the bridge of my nose.

He scratched the blond hair at the back of his head before dragging his hand over his face "I'll see you tomorrow, Hanji"

"Bright and early" I smiled

"You better have your uniform in check. I hear we have a real tough bastard for our induction"

"Don't worry, I'm ready" My glasses glinted.

He stood up and extended his arm out to me; I took his hand and got to my feet.

"Let's make a promise" He looked passed my spectacles and into my eyes "We'll survive" He had a determined smile on his face.

"Aye!" I nodded with the same amount of determination "We will survive"

...

"Good morning, Maggots!"

We were all in line. Uniforms pressed to perfection. I was in the twelfth row, last on the left, very last; we were put standing in alphabetical order. I could see Erwin a few rows in front of me, to the right.

The shouting man stood in front of us, receding brown hair and tanned complexion "I'll introduce myself! Shadis is my name. From now on you take orders from no one except me. For the next three years I own you! Everything you do, you do because I told you to; when to eat, sleep, wake up, hell, you won't even be able wipe your own asses without my permission! Now, you all know me"- he began pacing through the crowd of us -"time for me to get to know you"

He stopped in front of a boy; light blond/brown shoulder length hair. He was shaking as Shadis towered over him.

"What's your name, boy?"

He saluted; right fist over his heart, left fist resting on his lower back "M- Mike Zacharius, s-sss-sir!" He let out a little sigh of relief at making it that far.

"Zacharius, eh? Tell me, why did you join the Scouting Legion? Do you want to fight titans? Do you want to reside within the innermost wall? Or are you just here for the three free meals a day?"

The boy gulped "T-to kill titans, sir!"

"Tell me, boy, have you ever seen a titan?"

"No, ss-sir!"

"Let me tell you, killing titans is nothing like you hear in those stories" He took a step back and looked over the tops of all out heads "This goes for all of you; titans have no concept of anything. They won't hesitate to kill you! There's no glory! There's no being a hero! What's heroic about being eaten alive!?" He looked back to the boy in front of him.

Mike was so nervous. He was shaking "Try not to shit yourself, Maggot" Shadis said before moving onto his next victim.

"Who are you, shorty!?"

He stood in front of a rather short boy. I didn't even know there was a person standing there in the first place. The boy didn't answer.

"Didn't you hear me!? You deaf! Give me your name, Maggot!"

I heard a sigh "Levi"

"Levi? You don't have a surname or anything?" Shadis was extremely aggravated by this boy.

In a dead-pan voice the boy responded "Slow down, you'll have to buy me dinner first"

Several new recruits sniggered while others stood there in shock at the fact that this guy had balls.

Shadis growled "And what are you hear for, Smart-ass? What made you join?"

He sighed again "I'm just here to stay out of prison, although prison seems like a picnic compared dealing with the likes of you"

_Okay, this kid has some serious nerve. I need to put a face to the voice._

As if Shadis had heard my thoughts, he grabbed and lifted the boy by his collar. Black hair resting lifelessly against his scalp, I saw his face in profile; small pointed nose, small almost lifeless eyes and a thin lip.

"Listen here, you little shit, no one, and I mean no one, says things like that to a commanding officer and gets away with it!"

"Yay, punishment" Sarcasm was obviously this boys best weapon.

"I swear I'll"-

"Shadis" A voice called from the side.

Shadis looked to where it was coming from.

"Ah, Pixis!" He froze "Pixis! What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on the new recruits" He was an older bald man with a moustache. He took something out of the pocket in the lining of his uniform jacket before taking it to his lips and tilting it to the sky. He took it away from his mouth and wiped his face.

Shadis put the boy back on the ground.

"Shadis. This is Levi Rivaille" Pixis stated.

Shadis looked back at the boy who was now dusting himself off.

"I have high hopes for him, Shadis. One of the best swordsmen I've seen in years" He patted the boy on the back sending him stumbling forward slightly. Pixis stepped over to Shadis's side and whispered in his ear. I coudnt hear what they were saying but it was something serious judging by the shocked reaction Shadis gave.

Pixis pulled away from his ear and waited for the man to make eye contact with him.

Shadis slowly turned his head so his gaze met with Pixis's

"Understand?" Pixis asked

The shocked man nodded in response.

"Good" Pixis smiled under his moustache. He turned his attention to the rest of us as Shadis gathered his thoughts.

"Right! I'm only going to say one thing and I'm only going to say it once so listen carefully; at the end of the next three years, less than half of you will still be standing here. Some will leave due to injury or sickness, others because it's simply too much but the majority of you will die. I hope you all understand; you have a greater chance of dying than living. You are the hope of humanity; try not to get yourselves killed. That's all"

"Ending on a positive note" I mumbled under my breath.

Pixis turned on his heels and began to march away "Shadis… with me"

"Eh" He watched the man walk away

"Shadis!" Pixis called back

"Coming!" He came out of his thoughts and turned to us "Disband!" before running after Pixis.

I saw Erwin making his way towards me "Told you he was a nasty bastard" He half smiled

"Aye" I agreed before asking "Hey, Erwin, Who's that Levi guy?"

He shrugged "Not a clue. Seems like bad news though"

"Hmm" I held my chin and thought for a moment "I'm going over to say hello"

"EH! What!? Didn't you hear him!? He said if he didn't come here he'd have to go to prison!?"

"Aye! I want to find out more about him… he seems… seems" I struggled to find the word

"Like a trouble maker?" Erwin added

"No!" I smacked his arm "He seems interesting"

Erwin sighed "Alright"

Together we made our way over to the short boy. People seemed to be avoiding him, they must have thought he was trouble too. Once we had gotten close enough, I held out my hand for him to shake it

"Hi! I'm Hanji Zoe and this is my friend Erwin S"-

"I don't care" He wasn't even looking at ,me and then he turned and walked away.

I stood there frozen and dumbfounded.

"Told you he was trouble" Erwin stated.

"Shut up!" I hit his arm again with a smile on my face.

He smiled and chuckled lightly as he raised his forearms in a mock attempt to protect himself

"Baka!" I said as I folded my arms.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a few weeks since we first signed up. We were all in the mess hall, eating, talking, swapping stories and playing practical jokes on a few of the more bashful students.

I saw him. He was always sitting alone, barely ever touching his meal. I had wanted to go over to him several times before but Erwin had talked me out of it saying he was bad news. I didn't think so.

I studied him as he trained, despite the fact that, supposedly, he was a thug, his movements with the 3D Maneuver gear were quite gracious and his swordsmanship was flawless. His ability to use such speed and precision was nothing short of near impossible.

Of course, for all that he had going for himself, he was shitty at talking to people.

Erwin had gone to bed not too long ago complaining of a sick stomach. I had offered to examine him but he fearfully refused… I can't imagine why… Anyway, I decided to approach the short boy in Erwin's absence.

I took a deep breath and walked over to him. I stood next to his table and rocked on my heals; he didn't notice me. After a moment or two, I coughed, drawing his attention.

He looked up at me with those lifeless eyes

"What do you want?" He asked, dead-pan

"Eh, n-nothing" I could feel his eyes boring into me. I wondered how such a cold stare could burn so much "Just came over to say hello"

He looked back at his food "Where's your boyfriend?"

"Huh?"

"That blond guy who keeps giving me evil looks"

"Erwin?" I was a little shocked at his accusation.

"Is that his name?" He took a bight out of his roll of bread

"He's not my boyfriend" My cheeks turning red

"Could'a fooled me"

I cooled down and sat opposite him, deciding to change the subject "So where are you from?"

"Does it really matter?"

"It does to me"

He stopped eating and looked me in the eye "Why do you want to know about me?"

"I'm interested" I shrugged.

"Interested" He chuckled lightly

"Aye! I've been watching you, studying your movements with your gear and I can't for the life of me figure out where you learned to move like you do"

"Studying me, eh? What are you, some perverted scientist?"

"No!" My cheeks turning red again "Well, not the perverted part anyway"

"If you must know"- he looked at me, searching for my name

"Hanji"

"If you must know, Hanji, I'm not from anywhere"

"Huh? Then where did you learn to"-

"Just picked it up, I guess" He shrugged and dipped his bread into his soup.

….

"More balance training, Maggots! I want you in the training field in thirty minutes!" Shadis woke us at the crack of dawn

I moaned and clambered out of bed, putting my glasses on and seeing the world in all its glory

Raining. And thunder. And lightning

I sighed and wished for the training field to be struck by lightning so we couldn't train.

"C'mon, Hanji!" Maria Burquest. A friend I had made. She slept in the bunk next to me. She was about my height with curly red hair and green eyes "Get your ass in gear, shit-head!" She was my motivator. She told me she was named after the wall in hopes that she'd grow up to stand tall, to be strong, and that she would help defend humanity; I can honestly say she lived up to her name.

"Alright! Alright!" I stood up and lazily got dressed and put on my gear.

…

We were in the line for breakfast; plain porridge, as usual. At home, I loved porridge. We would grow the oats ourselves. My mother used to tell me "if you love the soil as much as you love the food it makes, it will always be tasty" I often thought she was talking a load of shit. _How could emotions towards soil make a difference? _I often thought, but after my few weeks here, I understand what she meant.

The porridge here was disgusting. I wouldn't even feed it to a dog. Black Burned spots mixed up in it. I sighed as one of the older students working the kitchens slopped a pile of it in my pan. I turned and took a seat next to Maria, Erwin wasn't too far behind me and sat opposite us, bringing two boys he had also made friends with; Rin and DJ Patterson, a pair of twins, identical twins; short black hair and blue eyes. The only difference between them was that DJ had freckles.

"Porridge. Ugh" One of the twins said.

Erwin had a look of despair on his face as he picked a load up on his spoon and watched it slide back into his pan.

"I don't know what you're complaining about" Maria said as she shovelled it past her lips "It's not that bad"

She always surprised me when it came to eating the stuff. It was like she had no taste buds.

"How can you eat this stuff!?" The other twin asked, amazed.

"I just can!" She replied.

I looked down at my own pan when something caught my eye; a little white speck. "Huh?" I looked at it and just to the right of it, there were a few more white specks. White specks leading all the way to the edge of Maria's pan.

I picked up a few of the white specks on the tip of my finger and examined them more closely.

Erwin noticed "What is it, Hanji?"

"Hmm" I licked the tip of my finger, lapping at the taste a few times.

"Huh?" One of the twins raised an eyebrow at me in confusion

"Don't worry, she's researching" Erwin sighed as he tapped the boys shoulder.

My eyes grew wide. It was a taste I had only ever tried once. My father had gone on an expedition at the opposite end of the wall. He had been to one of the bigger towns on his way back and picked us up a present-

"Sugar!" I exclaimed "There's suga"-

Maria slapped her hand over my mouth "Keep it down, Shit-head!" Her eyes were dark and filled with a weak form of bloodlust.

I began to shake in fear. To this day, she is the only person who truly struck fear into my heart. She slowly removed her hand from my mouth.

Erwin leaned forward and whispered "You have sugar?" Looking the girl dead in the eye, unmoved.

"Aye" She whispered in return before looking both ways. She reached into her pocket and slowly pulled out a tattered coin purse.

The twins opposite us began to drool.

"I'll share it if you promise not to tell anyone" She looked us all in the eye. We all nodded.

She quickly opened the purse, taking out pinches of the white substance and showering it over each of our pans. The purse disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"Now keep your fucking mouths shut about it" She finally said.

We all stirred up our porridge, mixing in the sugar.

I think it was DJ who was the first of us to try it. Each of us looked at his, gauging his reaction. He held it in his mouth for a while and eventually swallowed. He said nothing, he only smiled. That was good enough for the rest of us and we dived in


	3. Chapter 3

It had been about nine months since we first signed up. Much to Erwin's displeasement and disappointment, I had been talking with Levi more and more

"So, as you can see…" Our teacher was talking, drawing pictures if titans on the chalkboard. I was sitting between Erwin, who was on my right and Levi, who was on my left. I sat and listened. We were in class learning how to slice titans. Titans fascinated me. Everything about them was amazing. I was far more interested in knowing about the life of a titan rather than knowing how to kill them. I often wondered why they only ate humans and not other animals or birds.

I sat on the edge of my seat, both elbows on the desk and my hands supporting either side of my jaw as I listened tentatively… I may or may not have been drooling…

*SNIFF*

I heard come from my left.

"I told you before, you shit. Don't ever sniff me" I would recognise that dead-pan-mono-toned voice anywhere.

I looked to my left out of my peripheral vision. I could see Mike slowly leaning over to sniff Levi's shoulder.

"I swear I'll feed you to a titan if you don't stop"

Erwin, on my right, sighed "Leave him alone, Mike"

Mike didn't listen.

"Oi, blondie, learn to control your dog!"

"Mike!" Erwin whispered aggressively.

Mike sat back in his chair properly and smirked. He leaned back to look at Erwin "I can't help it; he always smells so… _clean_"

"It's a little thing called bathing. I doubt fucking dogs like you have ever heard of it" Levi retorted

Mike grabbed Levi's collar "Hey"-

"Boys!" The teacher saw them.

"Uh" Mike froze rigidly. Levi hung limp in his grasp

"Do you two want to run laps again?" he threatened

Mike and Levi often got in trouble in class. It was mainly due to Mike; he knew exactly how to rub Levi up the wrong way.

"N-No, sir!" Mike dropped Levi.

The shorter boy got to his feet and dusted himself off. He growled "You got dirt on my white pants, you asshole!" Levi punched him square in the mouth and a fight between them erupted.

The class jumped up and began chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Stop! Stop it!" The teacher tried to control us.

"Levi! Mike!" I called.

"You grab the short-ass and I'll take care of Mike!" Erwin put his hand on my shoulder.

"Aye!" I nodded.

We tugged and pulled and eventually separated them.

Erwin held Mike, who now had a bloody mouth. Levi on the other hand, who I was restraining, came out relatively fine, he had blood on his shirt and pants from Mike and some dirt on him.

"Look what you've done, dog!" He squirmed as he looked at his dirtied clothes

"What I did! I think you knocked out one of my teeth!" Mike was squirming also.

"That's enough!" The teacher yelled "Laps! Both of you! Now! And no stopping until you collapse!"

The stopped squirming and gritted their teeth.

"Shit" Levi mumbled.

I was constantly observing Levi whenever I could… NOT LIKE THAT! I-I was curious about him, his habits and why he is the way he is. I've noticed that he's an absolute clean freak, a serious one. When it came to his clothes, his bed (please believe me when I say I was in the boys dorm for scientific reasons… TOTALLY INNOCENT SCIENTIFIC REASONS), his gear, in fact the only foul or dirty thing about him was his language.

Needless to say, himself and Erwin didn't get along, although they both seemed to respect each other, probably due to Levi's skill with blades and Erwin's natural ability to lead. Watching them interact was like watching two rival lions… well, what I think two rival lions would look like, I've never really seen a lion before, only in story books from when I was a very small child.

…

Almost a year into our training, we were sent to a nearby forest to test our skill with our 3D Manuver gear. We needed to be fast, agile and co-ordinated… or at least I thought we did. They didn't really explain this task to us. We were going to the forest and that was about all we knew….

We all stood in the main yard in alphabetical order. Erwin was far closer to me now when we would stand in formation like this. A lot of people had quit over the past year. We started out with twelve rows of seven but now we barely scraped together seven rows of seven.

"The carts will be along shortly!" Shadis shouted "We need to put you into teams of seven" he paced along the front line "Myself and a few of your teachers have picked seven teams of seven, at random, to work together. Some of you have forgotten that when it comes to slaughtering titans, you not only rely on your own abilities, you rely on your team-mates. Learn to trust each other… your life could depend on it" He paused, the carts were approaching. He pulled a sheet of paper from his jacket pocket.

"When I call your names, I want you to get into a cart and sit with your team!" He cleared his throat "Team one! Dreyer, O'Neil.." Some time later "Team six! Smith, The Patterson twins, Burquest, Zacharius, Zoe, Rivialle"

"What!" Mike exclaimed. Himself and Levi had been ignoring each other since Levi knocked out one of Mike's teeth and now they were going to be on a team together.

"Shadis! These team are"-

"Are not changeable!" Shadis finished "Now get in the cart!"

Learning to trust our team-mates. All our teachers knew that Mike and Levi despised each other. Mike was always coming second to Levi in nearly everything. The only thing Mike had better than Levi was his acute sense of smell. It was impressive how he could smell something's from such distances. Although, Levi didn't seem too upset over it. In fact Levi rarely showed any emotion over anything. He was the best fighter in our class and he didn't care.

I suppose what Shadis said is true; if we're face to face with titans and I got into difficulty, I wouldn't care who you were if you came to my aid.

We sat in the cart in silence. I was observing everyone, our team, team five in the cart ahead, team seven in the cart behind. I looked at each member, wondered what they could possibly bring to each team and which team was the strongest. I was sure we weren't placed in these teams for pure fighting ability;

_What could this task be? Hmm… something is out of place. The Patterson twins are in the lower part of the class but they were exceptionally good at mending and understanding our 3DM gear. Maria; midway in the class, hard as nails, bit of a messy butcher when it comes to clean cuts but is very good at being sneaky. Erwin; midway in the class ability wise but is a natural leader. Mike; invades peoples personal space but second in the class, can smell danger a mile off. Levi; no social skills or understanding of teamwork; best in the class… Me… what do I bring? I need to look at my abilities from a non-bias, objective point of view… Hanji; Midway in the class, observation specialist, good for forming tactics…. Totally non-bias-_

"Hanji" Erwin pulled me out of my thoughts "What are you thinking?"

"Huh?"

"You're thinking, aren't you?"

"Aye" My voice was weak "These teams. I truly don't think they were picked at random"

"Really?" DJ asked

"Then, how else would they team us up?" Rin asked

"Abilities" I answered "We all have different abilities needed to for a successful team. Each team has them" I began to explain "Erwin" I looked at him "You're team leader, I'm the observation specialist, Maria's tactics, Levi's a skilled soldier, Mike can smell danger and the twins know 3DM gear inside out"

"M-me? Leader?" He seemed a bit shocked at the statement

"Aye" I nodded, as did everyone (except Levi) in the cart.

Erwin went a bit red "I see"

"Don't go getting too flattered" Levi interrupted looking away from us "You're the leader which means you make the final calls. You'll be putting all our lives on the line"

"Uh"

He looked at Erwin "Could you live with making a life or death decision? Could you live knowing you'd be leading some people to their deaths?"

Erwin was frozen

I put my hand on his arm "Er"-

He clenched his fist on his knee "If I have to, I will. In this life, we have to believe in the choices we make. If I believe in those choices and if I believe in the people who've chosen me to lead them, I will never regret any decision I make"

Levi chuckled slightly "You were born to be a leader alright; you're well capable of spouting bullshit when you need to"

*SMACK*

Maria slapped him

"Can you at least try to get on with us!? We're a team! We know you don't want to be here, but do you really think this is what we want in life? No! I'm doing this so someday, my children, my children's children, won't have to live in fear anymore! We're in this together, whether we like each other or not, so grow up and get over yourself!"

There were a few moments of silence as we waited for Levi's reaction.

He sighed "You have no clue, girly"-

The cart stopped. We looked around.

"This is a gate out of Wall Maria. Why are we here?" Rin asked

"Beats me" Levi shrugged.

A cart arrived from the west. Several qualified leaders of the Survey Corps riding in it.

"Hello, soldiers!" Pixis jumped off the back "Welcome to 'Titan-Training-1-0-1" He walked over to our cluster of carts with a smile "Today, you'll get to kill your first titan… outside the wall"


	4. Chapter 4

"Before we start, I must warn you, there's a high possibility that some if not all of you will die" Pixis looked at all of us with cold clinical eyes "You're in-experienced, nervous, scared even, and that's alright, we all start out somewhere" He began to pace back and forth in front of the carts "If any of you want to turn back now, no one will judge you, but you must remember that the rest of your team will still participate in this training exercise… I would have hoped that at least one of you has figured out that these teams have not been randomly selected. Each one of you is vital to each team, so please, think carefully before you decide to quit. You have fifteen minutes to make up your minds" He turned and headed back to his own cart where someone handed him a hip flask.

The twins and I all looked at each other, dumbfounded

"I'm staying" Erwin stated as he fixed his jacket.

"Me too" Mike was quick to respond.

DJ's face changed to a determined look "Aye!" He clenched his fist "Me too"

Rin sighed "Well, I can't let you go alone, mom wouldn't be happy if I left you all by yourself, god knows what trouble you'd get yourself into" He smiled "I'm in"

Erwin looked at me through his peripheral vision with a sceptical eyebrow raised

"Baka!" I said to him "Do you really think I'd back out of a chance to get up close and personal with titans?"

He smiled

"Fifteen minutes, eh?" Maria spoke as she looked down at her boots. We all looked at her

"What are you thinking, Maria?" I asked

She didn't lift her head "Fifteen minutes if far too long… I could be at home, helping my mother prepare dinner, teaching my younger brother how to count"

"Maria… you're not going to…."

She chuckled "After yelling at you to do better for the past year?" She smiled at me "What kind of a shitty friend would I be if I backed out now? Of course I'm staying"

The six of us all smiled at each other before we realised- Levi!

"I guess I'm in too" He sighed as he sat leisurely sprawled out at the back of the cart "I'd be off to prison if I gave up"

"So we're all participating?" I looked at everyone to make sure

They all nodded.

The fifteen minutes had passed.

"So" Pixis walked back over to the carts "Al those who do not wish to participate in this exercise, please step out of your carts"  
One person form team one. Three from team four. All of team five and finally one from team seven.

"Hmm" Pixis looked at the soldiers who stood before him "So you're giving up. I don't blame you, but you have all left your teams with an even slimmer chance of survival. I hope that after this mission, that fact won't rest heavy on your conscience" He coughed and cleared his throat

"You are all dismissed and relieved of your duties to this squad. Shadis will be escorting you back to collect your things" He turned away from them "You'll be running behind the cart"

"C'mon Maggots!" Shadis shouted as he led the way. They reluctantly ran after him.

Pixis turned to the remaining teams. "Only three full teams left. I have to admit, that's more than what we've had in recent years, usually we'd be lucky to keep one full team… Alright, I best brief you on your mission today. First off, we'll be taking you to the forest that stands roughly about a kilometre away, there we will ascend into the trees, observe the titans strolling around, pick one and devise tactics on how to attack it but first you'll have to lure it to the forest. Don't worry, this area does not see many titans, but I will advise you to not draw attention to yourself. We don't want any unnecessary deaths. Now, nominate someone to take the reins, the men who brought you here men will not be coming with us. After that, follow this cart" he pointed to his own "and we'll show you where to go"

We all huddled together

"I nominate Mike!" DJ stated

"Huh? Why me?" Mike's eyes were wide.

"Your nose can lead us to safety!" Rin added.

"Aye" Maria seconded.

"You think so?" Mike asked.

"Yup" I smiled "But it's not up to us" I looked at Erwin "What do you think, Team Leader?"

"Uh" He seemed nervous

"You look a little shaky, Captain" Levi spoke "Are you sure you're up for this?"

Erwin clenched his teeth and fists "Alright, Mike, take the reins"

"There is a reward!" Pixis interrupted the teams deferring. We turned and looked at him "The team that can kill at least one titan and make it back to the wall will get a week free to do as they wish. They can return home, go fishing, visit the mountains, or for you masochistic bastards amongst you, you could do more training, if that's what you really want" He jumped into his cart "Take the reins!"

Mike jumped into the front and grabbed the reins before taking a deep breath.

"Each of you, there is a pair of flairs for each of you in your carts. The red one signas for help. The green you must use once you get back to the wall. Understood?"

"Aye!" We all nodded.

"97th Squad; Good luck to every last one of you. I hope and pray that you will all be here once this mission is over. Open the gate!"

The gate rumbled as he heavy duty chains raised the giant slab of bricks and morter. We all tried our best to mentally prepare ourselves for what we'd see on the other side. This was all happening so fast. I had only ever dreamed of the world outside and now here I was about to venture into unknown territory. My heart was racing in my chest, more so in excitement of seeing titans than actual fear for my life; I had come to realise there's no point in fearing death when you've picked my path in life. Death is more likely than a long happy life.

"Are we ready?" Erwin asked all of us.

"No" One of the twins replied "But when will we ever be, eh?" He smiled

Erwin let out a low chuckle "True"

"I'll bet you tonight's dinner I'll be the one who kills it" Maria smiled.

"I bet it'll be Levi" Rin smiled.

"You're all wrong" Mike called from the front "It'll be me" He smiled with confidence.

Erwin spoke "Oi, stop it, all of you, the person who gets to kill it will be decided by our tactics expert" he gazed at me "Isn't that right, Hanji?" he winked.

I felt my cheeks heat up a little "Aye!"

"LET'S GO!" Pixis shouted as his cart stormed out of the gate. We all followed.

We entered the small tunnel trough the wall before being hit by blinding sunshine. It took a second or two for my eyes to adjust, but onc they had... it was truly beautiful.

I had often heard my father talking about the outside world. He said it was huge and that you could actually see the sky touching the earth. All I could do was use my imagination when he told those stories, but looking at it in reality was far different. My eyes were wide trying to take in this new world, a free world; trees, grass as far as the eye could see, a lake. It was far more beautiful than my imagination.

"Hanji, focus" Erwin put his hand on my shoulder "You're drooling"

"Uh" I quickly wiped my mouth and looked ahead. I saw the forest. The trees were gigantic. They must have been growing for hundreds of years.

"Look at all those big ass trees" Levi stated

"It's perfect for our 3DM gear" Rin smiled

"Look, over there!" Maria pionted to the west "Titans!"

"Let the games begin!" Mike laughed as he whipped the horse to go faster.


End file.
